Auto-Buy Questions

Read at own risk. Time warping may occur. General dizziness and mass confusion have been reported but these effects have been mild. If you have PMS reading this blog will only piss you off. In cases where people need logic and a rational argument this blog may cause a stroke.

I tell you, this internet world is getting bigger and bigger.

On that note, take a bathroom break, get a snack and put your feet up because this is going to be a looooonnnnngggg post.

I was over at Kristie's who was talking about a Crankyreader post that was then picked up by AG (new person to me - HI!) and returned to Kristie. What the hell, let's bring it on over here too.

AG posted many questions about how people deal with their auto-buy authors and I have decided to see if I can answer each one. Kinda like a meme.

1. From AG's post: What about the romance factor? Does that outweigh a tight plot and great pacing? And is the way sex is handled important to you too? Would you remain loyal even though the steamy scenes and romantic tension is clumsily handled, despite a superior plot and previous track record? Do you get turned off by overly explicit descriptions? And how important is a 'happily ever after' ending to you?

Ho-kay, this is going to be a bumpy ride, buckle up!!

I'm looking at the above paragraph as a whole because if I broke down the questions, well, my answers would get silly.

Hey! No throwing things! Ahem.

Would I remain loyal if certain factors of a story got out of hand? Well, let's pull out my past, present and future auto-buy list and see if we can answer this.

First, let's start with Linda Howard. That woman can write one hell of a book when she is on her game. Steam, tension, plot and a HEA. Yum. Dream Man and Duncan's Bride are the books I am thinking of here.

At this point in her career she is firmly on the auto-buy list. Then I read Son of Morning. This was not a romance for me. For 3/4 of the book the reader is following the heroine who is getting smarter and more self-sufficient in protecting herself. She then meets the hero and she becomes this 'wee bit of a thing' that couldn't find her way out of a wet paper bag.

Course, maybe it's just me. Others loved this book. Good on 'em.

This book is followed by a few ho-hum reads that leave me wondering if her best are now behind her. I stop buying her books for a while but I hear about how everyone hates After the Night and I know I have to read it because I will probably love it. I do. Thus begins the reading of the rest of her books available at the time.

Here's where things get dicey. I loved Cry No More but it wasn't a romance. I don't care what anyone says, it isn't a romance.

*covers ears and hums*

Good book. Not so much romance. Still I buy the next book which was To Die For which was a first person narrative that I enjoyed but the hero made me want to throw things and, well, meh.
Killing Time.

Lord, did that book ever kill time. What a waste. Boring, no sparks, nada, nothing, zip.

Will I buy Linda Howard again? I'm not sure but I know I won't shell out for a hardcover. Not at this point. Still there is the hope she will be able to bring the heat again so even though I don't list her as an auto-buy author I guess she is on the 'wait and see' list.

So that is an author going from romance moving more toward suspense. Julie Garwood lost me when she made the move even though I did follow her with her first book. Again, not a romance so no more Cindy time.

Suzanne Brockmann did something totally different to get knocked of my auto-buy list.

She strung me along. Wait. Maybe she didn't fulfill a promise made. Hmmm, thinking time.

Where was I? Oh!

I had been waiting years for Max and Gina to get their story and what did I get? Damned if I know but, it blew!! Instead of remaining true to Max's character she bent him into every hero she has ever done. He was no longer this island of a man, a dark character who needed Gina and for Heaven's sake he was singing Elvis songs. He sang! Bitch, please!

Now, it's not Brockmann's fault because she is the author and can write whatever she wants. It's my fault for letting myself be led by the nose. I have no interest in getting to know her characters if every one of them turn out the same at the end of each book. Sam was an original, I'll give her that. (Damn, some of the best scenes between Max and Gina happened in this book also!) After that, the men started to meld together into these heroic, patriotic, verbose characters. She had Cosmo who, up until his book say all of 6 words, waxing poetic about his job. Uh, who is this guy?

Edited: Oh Lord! I wiped Flashpoint from my brain!! Talk about a romance with sexual issues. The hero couldn't last 10 seconds in the sack. Ohhh, sexy.

So Brockmann can still bring the sexual heat. She can still have a great plot. Maybe where she has stumbled is in characterization. So, that can get you bumped off the list. This is one author I know I won't cave on. I have followed her since her first Harlequin and have loved most of them but her last book broke the camel's back.

Crap. I'm really not this much of a bitch but, I LOVED MAX!!

Sex in a book. Here's what I think about that. If there is no sex, I'll probably not buy any more of your books. Debbie Macomber used to be an author I bought all the time until her books closed with a chaste kiss between the hero and heroine. B-bye.

To sum up. I need consistent characterization, romance, sexual tension, great sex and a plot.

C'mon, I'm not hard to please!!

2. From AG's post: What happens when an autobuy crosses genre? Would you give her a chance too, and try reading the books? And if she returns to writing your favourite kind of romance, would you give her another chance? I know there are some who are disinclined to put a former autobuy author back on the list once they've dropped them. So, here's another question: would you give her a try if friends you trust and who share similar tastes recommend this drop-out's latest sensation to you?

Hmm, may have answered this in part earlier. I will happily cross over with a romance author as long as romance is still part of the equation. I read an interview with Jennifer Cruisie where she basically said it was time for her to move on from romance. Good enough. I won't buy her next book. I loved Bet Me but getting the news that the next book won't necessarily be a romance pretty much closes the door.

I know myself that this is unfair. I mean, I read LKH and Janet Evanovich and new to me Kim Harrison and I'm not expecting a romance. If I get one, bonus! The problem with following a romance author into another genre is there is that part of your brain that wants what it once had. I want another Anyone But You. I want another Duncan's Bride. Hell, I want another Garwood historical but I won't beg and these author's need to move on.

So off with you. I'll be fine and they'll be fine and life will go on. I mean, if I can survive the loss of Garwood and Brockmann, there isn't an author alive I can't get along without.

Damn. That sounds mean.

Not trying to be mean. Just saying that I respect their decision and they have to respect mine. No harm, no foul.

Someone who was dropped from my auto-buy list with a resounding thunk was Katherine Sutcliffe. The infamous book with no ending. I swear I finished Devotion and wondered where the rest of the pages were. When I read Sutcliffe's response that 'everyone knew what was going to happen, why did she have to spell it out?' I promptly dropped her. I actually like to see the end of a story. Yep. I like my HEA and damn, that guy had some serious groveling to do. Apparently, knowing that means I didn't have to read it.

*mumbling* What a stupid, dumbass thing to ...

Whoops! Onwards.

In my eyes as a reader the author decided she was done writing the story and some sap of a publisher published the book. Bad, bad publisher. Always make sure the book has an ending.

So years, and I'm talking years, later Darkling I Listen came out and there were friggin' ticker tape parades. I couldn't go anywhere without hearing about this book so I decided I had to try it.

Can we say KEEPER!!! Loved it. I have now gone and bought all the books that I did not buy since Devotion. I haven't read them yet but I did buy them.

Edited: I forgot that Sutcliffe wrote a sequel to this book *eight* years later called Obsession. I guess I wasn't the only reader to think she got ripped off. Sooo not going to read this book!

So yes. An author can do something extremely harmful, for me, and one day get back into my good graces. It would just take some serious internet buzz, a possible listing as one of the year's best books and, in case Brockmann ever stops in, some cold hard cash.

Course, the cash doesn't mean I'll post something nice about your book.

So, you guys want to know my convoluted approach to MaryJanice Davidson?

What did I say about throwing things!?